Abricotine Eau-De-Vie, Morand, 350 mL

There are two great pinnacles in the Valais: Matterhorn (Mont Cervin) and Williamine® Morand. As a symbol of the Valais and of Switzerland, Williamine® Morand has gained the status of a cult present for tourists to bring home. And what more welcome discovery to offer family and friends than the celebrated Williamine® Morand, with its distinctive fragrance so evocative of the Valais and the natural wonders of its alpine landscape. Every spirit has its preferred native soil. Whiskey, Armagnac and Cognac are all identified with a particular country or region, with a people, its traditions and culture. It is no accident that the Williams pear has established such firm roots in the Valais where it produces one of the world's most celebrated brandies. Unlike other spirits, fruit brandies draw their quintessence from the very soil that bears them. The climate and the rich, fertile earth of the Valaisan orchards – combined with the distiller's expert hand – have played a decisive role in building the reputation of Williamine® Morand.

Brandy Production: From cultivation of the fruit trees through cellar storage to fermentation in the still, there are strict rules governing the methods of manufacture of brandies bearing the Morand signature.The harvest period for berries and fruits starts in July/August with the mountain raspberries and apricots which the sun of the Valais endow with a very fine and succulent flesh. August and September are the busy months for Williams pears, apples, plums, prunes and quinces. Permanent contacts with producers and regular visits to centres of production ensure the best possible conditions for supply of the fruit. The fruits are crushed and delicately reduced to purées which are subsequently collected and kept in enamelled vats during alcoholic fermentation. Constant vigilance is maintained for the duration of the fermentation process, varying between 10 and 30 days depending on the fruit. After fermentation, the purées are kept in hermetically sealed vats. Distillation can begin. It is done very slowly through stills with rectifying plates, heated by steam, according to a process handed down through craft traditions and family recipes. Experience and intuition are the best guides for the distiller in the exercise of his art. The «head» and «tail» are eliminated and the «heart» conserved. Limpid, crystalline, heady with fiery aromas, the liqueur soon reveals its passionate soul. Six to eight months of maturation are necessary for the spirit to settle down, retaining only the purest and most refined fragrances of the fruit. Young, pure, delicate and open, it deploys all the wiles of seduction. Finally, there is bottling and labelling, before shipping to destinations near and far, where the elegant bottles of eaux-de-vie Morand carry the youthful and charming perfumes of the valaisan orchards.